Perfect Baked Sweet Potatoes in the Pressure Cooker and Oven

Happy New Year! Yes, I know I’m ridiculously late in saying that. People have been writing to ask if I’m all right because it’s been so long since I posted, so before I write one word about cooking, I want to assure you that I am fine.

Actually, I’m more than fine. By any means of measurement, objective (blood tests, CT scans, etc.) and subjective (I feel great), I am 100% back to normal. I’m finding that once people hear that you have had cancer, every little absence from a meeting or a party or a blog makes them fear for your health. The truth is I feel so good that I’ve been busy with lots of mundane projects, such as transferring all my files from Windows to my new iMac, staining and sealing my new front entry doors, and planning some trips with my daughter later this spring (final college visits, yay).

But another reason I haven’t posted is that I’ve been in a cooking slump.

My year got off to a bad start, cooking-wise, when the black-eyed pea loaf I made for New Year’s Day was a total flop. I started off with too much liquid, so it never firmed up in the middle, making it inedible, at least to humans. The dog, however, loved it and enjoyed a little piece as a treat every day for about 3 weeks. My husband even suggested I make it again as dog food!

I’ve had a couple of other flops, such as when I tried to veganize but instead destroyed this recipe for Rumbledethumps. At least we were able to eat the Rumbledethumps, with their vegan “cheese” that was more like a nutritional yeast crust, but such failures do make me feel like I’ve somehow lost my cooking mojo. I have been having success re-cooking a lot of my old recipes, so my problem isn’t in the execution but in the ideas. Every time I think I’ve come up with a unique idea for a recipe, it turns out that I’ve already made and blogged about something similar. That’s what sharing recipes online for over 20 years will do to you.

Maybe not perfect looking but definitely perfect tasting

I finally decided that the only way to get over my blogging slump is to just find something simple and blog about it. Something like my new way of baking sweet potatoes.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve baked regular potatoes and sweet potatoes in two steps: pre-cook them in the microwave and then finish them off in the toaster oven. It’s a compromise that results in pretty good potatoes that cook quickly in the microwave yet have a little of that roasted flavor that only baking can impart. I didn’t think they could taste any better until I decided to change up one of the steps and pressure cook them in my Instant Pot rather than microwaving. Though they take a little longer in the PC, they come out so much moister and creamier than microwaved potatoes. Here’s how I do it:

Perfect Baked Sweet Potatoes in the Pressure Cooker and Oven

Pressure steaming first locks in moisture, and baking for 10-15 minutes concentrates the sweetness.

Course Side Dish, Vegetable

Prep Time 1minute

Cook Time 45minutes

Total Time 46minutes

Servings 1

Author Susan Voisin

Ingredients

1sweet potato per person

waterboiling preferably

Instructions

Wash the sweet potatoes well. Poke each with a fork a few times.

Put about 1 cup of hot water in your pressure cooker. (This is for a 6-quart Instant Pot; larger cookers may need more. Just make sure water covers the bottom of the pot.)

Place a steaming rack or basket in the pot. Make sure the water is beneath the level of the rack. Place the potatoes on the rack, out of the water.

How much time you pressure cook them will depend on the size of the sweet potatoes. For small potatoes, start with 14 minutes, medium 16 minutes, large 18 minutes. Lock your lid in place and bring to high pressure. (Instant Pot users, use the Manual setting and set the appropriate time.) It doesn’t matter how many potatoes you are cooking; set the timer according to the size of the largest potato.

Cook at high pressure for the time listed for your size of sweet potatoes. Then remove from heat or turn your electric PC off. Allow the pressure to come down naturally for 10 minutes. Quick release the pressure if necessary after 10 minutes. Check the potatoes by poking down to the center with a fork. They should be relatively soft all the way through. If they seem hard in the middle, return them to the cooker, and pressure cook them for another minute or two. Quick release the pressure and check again. They should be done, but repeat if necessary.

While the pressure is coming down, preheat your oven to 400F. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Susan, I’ve been using your recipes since going plant based in 2005. I don’t know what I would eat without you! I love that you shared this simple recipie. So often I tend to get off track buying packaged and premade food for lack of time. More tips like this would be a huge help to me and I’m sure many other people. What good cooks may think is common knowledge is lost on someone like me who isn’t an intuitive cook at all. How about a section on your website for “cooking for dummies kind of thing?” The absolute basics that even a college student could cook? Thank you so much for all your amazing work!!!!

This seems like so much time and trouble for plain cooked sweet potatoes. You suggest boiling water, bringing them up to pressure, cooking at high pressure for at least 14 minutes, letting pressure release for 10 minutes, and then baking them in an oven for 15 minutes?

Sometimes it seems like Instapot owners are trying too hard to pretend they really save any time or trouble. I have an Instant Pot but I find that it’s not really the super-gadget everybody seems to want to believe it is.

We generally just microwave them for about 6 minutes or bake them along with other things (or a big batch of them) for about an hour. They taste great and it’s quite easy. 🙂

HI! This is my first time checking out this blog. Thanks for posting! We have an instant pot. I’m wondering why you need to “finish” in the oven for 10-15 minutes after pressure cooking? Is it necessary?

Thanks to Susan for introducing me to the Instant Pot. My son gave me one last year for Christmas, and the first thing I did was make the sweet potatoes! THE BEST! Now for my story about “The Instant Pot that Saved Thanksgiving”… Twas 2 days before Thanksgiving and all through the kitchen was heard a loud POP coming from my stovetop! Across to the range I flew like a flash, to see what had made such a horrible crash! Nothing was there, not a cup nor a knife, but I’d never seen such an awful crack in my life! Google said “don’t use it! you’ll get a bad shock!” and a new top online was “not in stock”…so I started to shop, how much would I pay? WHAT? They can’t deliver one until SUNDAY? (here’s the part where the IP saved the day…) . Shining on my counter was the Instant Pot and that nice little pot just wouldn’t stop! On string beans, on mashed potatoes, on brussels, and beets! Now mac & cheeze, and cranberry sauce and sauteed veggies for the dressing! (But wait! there’s more!) Smooth gravy and wonderful CORN ON THE COB!! Dinner was saved, tummies were full, and the food that I served was super flavorful!

I think the trick is that the flavor isn’t boiled out like it when veggies are boiled on the stovetop. Another bonus, I didn’t steam up the kitchen with all the pots boiling away on the stove.